The Known Soldier
by meatballs in the impala
Summary: The night before the Cell Games is the darkest humanity has ever faced. During the darkest hours of night, two men realize what exactly is worth fighting and sacrificing your life for. BV & GCC.


**status **complete  
><strong>background <strong>set in the night before the cell games  
><strong>warnings <strong>implied situations, slight ooc on vegeta's side?  
><strong>pairings <strong>goku/chichi & vegeta/bulma  
><strong>disclaimer <strong>i don't own dbz  
><strong>notice <strong>my take on the night prior to the cell games. it has to be one of my favorite moments in dbz. this version is somehow incomplete, but i'm not sure i will add anything else to it. i like it as it is. it's mainly about goku and vegeta and their thoughts of the upcoming battle (sort of), but i couldn't resist in adding bulma.  
><strong>notice2 <strong>i have recently classified my writing style as poor. not poor as in lame, but as in lacking any kind of richness. does it make any sense at all?

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><p><strong>THE <em>KNOWN<em> SOLDIER**

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><p>Goku is not oblivious. No matter what most people, even his own friends and family, might incline to believe.<p>

He knows that he can not beat Cell. The enemy is too powerful, so much that not even the two pure-blooded Saiyans left have the power to beat him separately. And for all it's worth, he knows that they are both too proud to team up against Cell in order to defeat him. Vegeta would never agree to such predicament. And even though Goku does not possess half of Vegeta's Saiyan pride, he doesn't agree to it either.

But Goku has an ace up his sleeve, and so he places all his hopes in that, because he knows that his son has the power to wipe Cell off the face of the Earth and send the green monster into the deepest caldrons of Hell.

However, in order for Gohan to succeed in such an ordeal and survive, some sacrifices need to be made. And the Saiyan warrior knows all too well who needs to be the sacrificial lamb – who _will_ be it. He will not allow his son to die in the battlefield, not on his watch.

Thus, Goku spends the last day before the Cell Games fishing with Gohan, chatting happily with Krillin, enjoying two hours of meditation with Piccolo and having a proper dinner with his family at their humble house. And when Chichi questions him about the outcome of tomorrow later that night, he silences her with a kiss. Then, he trails his lips lower on her curvaceous body and all anxieties of the upcoming battle's results become a distant thought in the back of their minds as Chichi's grip on his bleach blond hair tightens.

The only thing that Goku is oblivious to, is the child he has implanted inside Chichi's womb that night. A healthy boy, whom he will meet with a seven-year delay.

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><p>Vegeta knows they may not survive tomorrow. And it brings an unwanted ache in his chest, because he knows it's his fault. Had he not let Cell reach his perfect form, they wouldn't have been in the current situation. But there is nothing he can do right now, besides feeling guilt and self-pity.<p>

He can't sleep that night. Ominous thoughts trouble his mind and peace is not easy to find. Then again, it has never been – for him, at least. Lost in a torrent of unwanted emotions, he finds his way inside Trunks' bedroom. He finds it ironic how he has no son, yet two boys from different timelines are resting quietly in the sleeping quarters of Capture Corp., with his blood running strong in their veins.

The youngest boy of the two is sleeping peacefully in his cradle, unaware of tomorrow and yesterday. The Saiyan prince can not recall a time when he was careless like the child before him. Fate has been cruel to him; the Gods were taunting him and he insulted them back. Somewhere deep inside his blackened heart, he is relieved that the boy in this timeline has not endured the hardships his counterpart and Vegeta have survived through.

Vegeta is not the one to make promises, but he gives his word to the infant that he will not allow fate to put his son through the horrors of tomorrow.

His black eyes widen with realization, and the prince can't remember when it was that he has started calling Bulma's son his own.

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><p>Bulma is neither surprised nor defensive when Vegeta slips inside her bedroom that fateful night, his purpose clear as water in his dark eyes. She doesn't fight it. Instead, she opens her arms for him, welcomes and reciprocates his touch. She knows that tomorrow is uncertain, and she can taste the guilt in Vegeta's mouth.<p>

She is not in the least stunned when he spends the night in her bed, listening quietly to her steady breathing. He does not fall asleep until her fingers softly caress his dark hair, lulling him to a peaceful slumber. The tears fall freely from his closed eyes as he sleeps, but he knows, deep in his subconscious, that she will never mention it to anyone. She is the only one he can let his guard down around and he unconsciously hates her for that. He hates her for being able to step through his barriers and worm her way into the heart he isn't even aware he had.

Bulma knows that he doesn't have the power to defeat Cell – and perhaps none of them does. So, she provides him with silent comfort, the only kind of he will ever accept, whispering words that she knows will never reach his ears, regardless of his Saiyan hearing.

She stays strong for Vegeta, but mostly for her son. Neither the teenage nor the infant version of Trunks deserves to face tomorrow. But there is nothing she can do to reverse things, go back in time and prevent the disaster from happening. She isn't as smart or as strong as her future counterpart, but she will try. Bulma has made a vow when Trunks was born – to protect him at all costs – and she intends to keep it.

Still, she lets her shield shatter just for a few hours in the depths of night, and she cries quietly, her arms tightly wrapped around Vegeta and her tears mixing with his own. It is too late to be hoping for a miracle, but she tries nevertheless.

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><p>The day of the Cell Games, the sun rises proudly in the sky, letting everyone know that their time is up.<p>

The two Saiyan warriors, however, get out of their beds and slip into their fighting attire without a single hint of fear or doubt in their hearts. They know that they can't defeat Cell in a one-on-one match, but they also know that there are people in this small planet that they will fight to protect. It is going to be a battle to the end, but none of the two feels his heartbeat accelerate.

They have received comfort from their women, and found hope in the faces of their children.

And that, Goku and Vegeta think as they speed to the area of the Cell Games' arena, is the reason they will give their everything in the upcoming battle, to make sure that, in the end of the day, there will still be a planet for their children to grow up in.

The two soldiers fly towards their doom, with their minds made up and their fists ready to draw blood. As Vegeta says, a Saiyan has his pride to defend, and Goku knows that, in this moment, his pride consists of the people he cares about, and whom he will protect, no matter the consequences.

It is quite the paradox that Vegeta is thinking of the same thing.


End file.
